1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates to hand controllers and, more particularly, to hand operated controllers for operating remote systems such as the flight control systems in aircraft, spacecraft or motion and effector control of robotics or land vehicle mechanisms.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
Two and three degree of freedom hand control (command) systems are well known in the art. Such control systems have commonly been devised utilizing a control knob or handle, often shaped to fit the operator's hand, so that he can move it, for example in a three degree of freedom system, forwardly and backwardly to control the pitch of an aircraft, to the right and left to control the roll of the craft, and to twist it about a vertical axis to control the yaw of the aircraft. In some applications, as for example in helicopter control, a fourth command axis is needed to control the up and down motion, i.e. the collective motion of the craft. The collective control has heretofore been accomplished either by use of a separate dedicated controller or by adding a fourth axis to a three axis (roll, pitch, yaw) hand controller so that the operator lifts the control knob or handle vertically or pushes it downwardly to produce the desired collective control.
In a co-pending application Ser. No. 181.062, filed on even date herewith entitled "Three and Four Degree of Freedom Hand Controller" and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, there is described a system where the fourth axis is controlled by motion of the forearm rather than by hand-wrist motion. This is quite satisfactory for four degrees of freedom, but it is sometimes desirable to have more than four degrees of freedom as, for example, in controlling a space, air or ground vehicle, manipulator arms, or robotics devices where five or six degrees of control may be required. While two three degree of freedom hand controls, one for each hand, may be used, this prevents use of one hand for other efforts and may be confusing to the operator. Accordingly, it is desired to provide five and six degrees of command requiring use of only one of the operator's forearms.